Tagged With "legal assistance"
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37th Annual Child Abuse Prevention Symposium Recap
"Speak Out! Confronting the Culture of Child Sexual Abuse and Secrecy" was the theme of Santa Clara County's 37th Annual Child Abuse Prevention Symposium which featured a Keynote conversation with Olympic Gold Medal winning gymnast and current UCLA Assistant Gymnastics Coach Jordyn Wieber. Jordyn, and other athletes and survivors of former USA Gymnastics team doctor and serial child sex abuser Larry Nassar, earlier spoke to a U.S. Senate Subcommittee about a “culture of silence” more...
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40 New California Laws Just Signed By Gov. Brown
40 New California Laws Just Signed By Gov. Brown Gov. Jerry Brown signed several pieces of legislation into law on Sept. 1. Here they are. 0 By Renee Schiavone (Patch Staff) - Updated September 5, 2017 10:00 am ET Share Tweet Google Plus Reddit Email Comments 0 As we turned the page into September, California's governor got a head start on the month by signing more than three dozen bills into law on Friday. Among the 40 pieces of legislation that Jerry Brown approved was a bill aimed at...
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A Guide to Increase Mental Health Services for Students - Project Cal-Well, CA Dept of Education, 2018
This guide is created by Project Cal-Well, with input from the Student Mental Health Policy Workgroup, to assist schools and districts to build capacity to better address mental health challenges among students. Learn about Project Cal-Well See Guide attached.
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Bi-partisan trauma resolution introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives
A bi-partisan resolution “Recognizing the importance and effectiveness of trauma-informed care” ( H. Res. 443 ) was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on July 13 by Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and co-sponsor Danny K. Davis (D-IL). The impetus for the resolution resides with the First Lady of Wisconsin, Tonette Tonette Walker Walker, who has taken a strong leadership role in advancing trauma-informed policy and practice statewide through Fostering Futures and of late with the new...
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Building Community Resilience, Volume II
Building Community Resilience, Volume II: State of Readiness: System and Provider Abilities to Respond This second volume in the Strategies 2.0 toolkit series describes the organizational capacity needed for a shared approach to building community resilience within an organization or network. The tools in this volume will assist organizations to: Build a logic model to focus the work Assess their level of readiness to implement BCR efforts Identify the steps needed to increase readiness for...
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Addressing Homelessness Is High on Governor Newsom’s Agenda [chcf.org]
By Xenia Shih Bion, California Health Care Foundation, March 2, 2020 Governor Gavin Newsom made an unconventional move in his second annual State of the State address — he devoted almost the entire speech to California’s housing and homelessness crisis. It is clearly on the minds of many Californians. A recent CHCF and SSRS statewide poll found that more than 8 out of 10 state residents say addressing homelessness is an “extremely important” or “very important” issue. “The problem has...
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Adversity and resiliency: The case for integrating ACEs and Strengthening Families approaches
Attached is the PowerPoint that was presented by Diane Kellegrew, Jane Stevens and Katie Albright in a webinar April 16. And below is the slide that ID's the presenters.
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Advocacy tools for influencing policy at the national, state, and local levels
The level of policy activity at all levels relating to ACEs-trauma-resilience has increased significantly over the last few years. The California Campaign to Counter Childhood Adversity (4CA) held its third Policymaker Education Day this year and has created a number of resources (included in this widget) designed to expand legislators’ knowledge of ACEs science and promote approaches to reduce and heal childhood adversity. In addition to California specific information on legislative and...
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AG Kamala D. Harris Seeks to Better Serve Foster Youth (sdvoice.info)
Attorney General Kamala D. Harris Issues New Guidelines to Encourage Secure Sharing of Information Between Schools and Child Welfare Agencies to Better Serve Foster Youth Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today announced that the California Department of Justice’s Bureau of Children’s Justice (BCJ), the California Department of Education (CDE), and the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) have jointly developed statewide guidelines for school districts, county offices of...
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Are California’s Mental Health Dollars Helping Kids? [CaliforniaHealthline.org]
California schools get hundreds of millions of dollars a year from the state to identify and assist disabled children who have mental health problems. But we don’t know how the money is spent or if it is helping the kids perform better in school. That’s the main finding of a recent report by the California State Auditor, and it will be on the agenda Wednesday at a hearing of the Senate’s mental health committee. “It appears we give all this money to the schools,...
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Assistance dog trained to help witnesses, victims in Stanislaus County court [Modesto Bee]
The woman, a victim of an assault, sat in the courtrooms witness chair and started to talk. As she told a judge what happened and how it affected her giving whats called a victim impact statement the woman started...
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California Child Welfare Policy and Progress, Winter Issue [Insight]
The California Child Welfare Co-Investment Partnership Report This issue of in sights provides an overview of the latest legislative developments in California, including data and perspectives on the policy and practice transformation taking place with the Continuum of Care Reform (CCR). Beyond a comprehensive summary of child welfare state legislation, this issue also includes a discussion on the key provisions of the Family First Prevention Services Act. The issue concludes with...
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California Department of Public Health has MCAH program that prevents ACEs!
In Federal-State partnership HRSA Maternal & Child Health the California Department of Public Health, MCAH have a home visiting program designed for families at risk for ACEs! The California Home Visiting Program (CHVP) is designed f or families who are at risk for adverse childhood experiences , including child maltreatment, domestic violence, substance abuse and mental illness. Home visiting is a preventive intervention that aims to promote maternal health, improve child development,...
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California Essentials for Childhood (EfC) Initiative’s “Enhancing the Collective Vision” Slides Are Available and Opportunity to Participate in an Orientation Webinar
The California Essentials for Childhood (EfC) Initiative convened more than 65 stakeholders on Friday, July 12, 2019 to assess the current state of collective action around adverse childhood experiences (ACEs); align EfC Initiative goals and project interventions with existing efforts; identify mutually reinforcing activities; and establish a collective agreement on how to strategically promote Safe, Stable, Nurturing Relationships, and Environments (SSNR&E), to prevent and reduce child...
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California Funding Opportunity to Help Victims of Human Trafficking Recover
The California Governor's Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES), Victim Services and Public Safety Branch, is soliciting proposals for the Human Trafficking Victim Assistance (HV) Program for fiscal year 2016-17. The purpose of the HV Program is to help human trafficking victims recover from the trauma they experienced and assist with reintegration into society. This will be accomplished by providing safety and supportive services. Approximately $10,000,000 is available for 2016-17. It is...
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California Healthy Places Index
The California Healthy Places Index (HPI) is a powerful new tool, developed by the Public Health Alliance of Southern California, to assist in exploring local factors that predict life expectancy and comparing community conditions across the state. The HPI provides overall scores and more detailed data on specific policy action areas that shape health, like housing, transportation, education and more. Climate change exposure, social vulnerability, and adaptive capacity indicators have been...
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Webinar readies doctors for universal ACEs screening in Ca and beyond
Editor’s note: Governor Gavin Newsom set aside federal funds and funds through Proposition 56 that will reimburse health care providers for screening patients in the Medi-Cal program for trauma beginning July 1 using the CPT code 96160. Notably the Department of Health Care Services recommended in March that only California providers using the PEARLS tool to screen pediatric patients will be reimbursed. ACEs Connection has made repeated public records requests for public comments submitted...
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Webinar Slides and Recording: Transformational Resilience for Climate Change Traumas and Toxic Stresses with Bob Doppelt
Recorded live October 28, 2019. Find the slides attached below. The webinar recording: You will learn: how climate change creates personal, family, and community traumas and toxic stresses; how those traumatic stressors trigger feedbacks that expand and aggravate ACEs and many other person, social, community, and societal maladies; why current approaches are woefully inadequate to address what is already occurring and rapidly steaming toward us and why prevention is the only realistic...
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Why Silicon Valley is teaming up with San Quentin to train young people to code (usatoday.com)
Inside an aging brick facility ringed by a chain-link fence and agricultural fields, 14 young people convicted of violent crimes are trying to program a better future for themselves. For the past two months they’ve been learning to write code through a first-of-its-kind pilot program at the Ventura Youth Correctional Facility in Camarillo, California, about 50 miles northwest of Los Angeles. They’re looking to break that streets-to-prison cycle by picking up new skills – JavaScript, HTML,...
Ask the Community
Anyone using MHSA or other funds in innovative ways to address ACEs or trauma?
Question: Please share examples of innovative uses of existing funding to address ACEs and trauma. For example, Mental Health Services Act has a funding category called "Innovative Projects" which might be a way to fund ACEs and trauma related efforts. Are you aware of any CA communities that have found ways to utilize MHSA or other funds in unexpected ways - that have the potential of addressing trauma and ACEs? See below and attached for more background re MHSA. Background: The CA...
Ask the Community
Call for Presenters: Early Education Conference
The California Council of Parent Participation Nursery Schools (CCPPNS) hosts the premier early education conference for the cooperative preschool community in California. The 2018 Conference, "Time to Connect," will be coordinated by the the San Francisco Council of Parent Participation Nursery School (SFCPPNS). When: March 9 & 10, 2018 Where: Hotel Kabuki, San Francisco CA This early education convention draws parents and teachers from around the state of California and is open to all,...
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Solano County launches its ACEs and resilience initiative inviting all to take action
Elizabeth Huntley recalls the day when her family’s life was turned upside down. “One day my mom woke up and she packed up all of our clothes, all five of us…and she took me and my younger sister who had the same father… down to my paternal grandmother’s house…and she left us there. She took my middle sister to a town near Birmingham, Ala., and left her there. She took my only brother and an older sister back to Huntsville and left them at a sister’s house. Then she went back to that housing...
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Solano County's (CA) ACEs initiative, a robust community effort, makes room for input from all
In a house called “Johanna’s House” on a tree-lined side street in Vallejo, Calif., four women are filling out the adverse childhood experiences (ACE) survey given to them by Maria Guevara, the founder of Vallejo Together, an organization that serves homeless residents in Vallejo. The house was named for Johanna Dilag, a homeless woman who was found dead along with her dog.
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Starting Now: A Policy Vision for Supporting the Healthy Growth and Development of Every California Baby [ChildrenNow.org]
In the first three years of a child’s life, foundational brain architecture is established, making children’s earliest experiences the most important. The creation of healthy brain architecture is dependent on good health, positive and nurturing relationships with adults, exposure to enriching learning opportunities and safe neighborhoods. Yet too often in California, children—especially children of color, foster youth, and those growing up in poverty—lack the components critical for a...
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STATE HEALTH CARE STRATEGIES TO ADDRESS CHILDREN’S TRAUMA, EXPOSURE TO VIOLENCE AND ACEs
I found this document by Futures Without Violence to be a useful resource. From the forward: The health care system plays an important role both in identifying children who may be exposed to extreme adversity and violence, currently and in the past, and in providing the evidence-based interventions that can help children heal from trauma and prevent health conditions and other poor outcomes associated with trauma and ACEs. The health care system is also central in supporting the greatest...
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Statewide meeting of public health officials focused on ACEs!!!
The Road to Resilience: A Public Health Approach to Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) I was privileged and excited to present Neurobiology of Trauma and Resilience to this powerful and attentive group of over 200 state health workers on May 10. We talked about childhood brain development, effects of ACEs, genetics and epigenetics, and neurology of stress, trauma and resilience. From this conference I anticipate statewide action, hopefully impacting thousands if not millions of California...
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Roundup on people who are homeless, efforts to assist them: Haircuts, HUD grants, pets, mentally ill, young adults
Ventura County's homeless bring in their pets for free shots, licenses (VenturaCountyStar.com) -- Danna Aten, who is staying at a hotel in Ventura while working at a nursing job in Oxnard, stopped by Catholic Charities in Ventura so that her service dog, Memi, could be vaccinated. In all, Ventura County Animal Services vaccinated 28 dogs and licensed 27 of them. Modesto homeless treated to haircuts as part of DoubleTree event (ModestoBee.com)-- The free haircuts were part of the DoubleTree...
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San Diego State Revives Aztec Language Course as Mascot Debate Continues (ww2.kqed.org)
San Diego State is reviving a course on the indigenous Aztec language, Nahuatl, next semester. The announcement comes as faculty and students revive a decade-long debate on campus about the appropriation of the Aztecs as a mascot. “This is a reaction to respect, to notions of respect,” said Center for Latin American Studies Director Ramona Pérez. “It’s a reaction to doing things right.” She said the university had offered a course on the language in the early 2000s, when concerns about the...
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Senate HELP Committee approves opioid bill with major trauma-related provisions
The Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committee unanimously approved The Opioid Crisis Response Act of 2018 Act on April 24. Significant provisions were included from the Heitkamp-Durbin Trauma-Informed Care for Children and Families Act (S. 774), including creation of a task force on trauma, and grants for trauma-informed schools.
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Senate HELP Committee schedules hearing on April 11 on draft opioid bill with key provisions addressing trauma and seeks stakeholder comments
Key provisions that are closely aligned with sections the Heitkamp-Durbin “Trauma-Informed Care for Children and Families Act (S. 774)” are included in opioid legislation that is advancing in the U.S. Senate. A draft bill, “The Opioid Crisis Response Act,” is the subject of a hearing on Wednesday, April 11 in the Senate HELP (Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions) Committee and a mark-up of the legislation is expected over the next several weeks. Senator Heitkamp’s office highlighted three...
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Survey: Healthcare providers, community organizations weigh in on California's ACEs screening program
In January, California took a historic leap forward to promote universal ACEs screening of the state’s 13 million adults and children in the Medi-Cal program. The eventual goal is to promote ACEs screening for all patients, but this is a first step in dealing with a major issue that ACEs science has identified: that many children will develop serious health problems later in life because the healthcare system is not currently set up to detect the roots of those problems. The term ACEs, which...
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The urgent need for a system of support for California schools (edsource.org)
Earlier this year, a representative of a California advocacy and civil-rights organization asked me if the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence , the new state agency that I head, has a “genuine sense of urgency” about its work in getting the right kind of help and assistance to districts, charters and county offices of education. I told him that the very first meeting that we had in the very first district that we agreed to take on was at Ironwood State Prison, which is...
Calendar Event
Narratives and Trauma Healing Webinar
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Transition Age Youth (TAY) Conference in March 2020
TAYCON 2020 is the third annual Transition Age Youth (TAY) conference, which will be held on March 2nd and 3rd, 2020, in the City of Industry. This conference brings together transition age youth and professionals from across the state for collaboration and learning opportunities. This year’s conference theme is “Creating a Web Self-Sufficiency, Stability, and Support”. We selected this theme because, like superheroes, our youth overcome adversity to discover their potential. As with...
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Trauma-informed groups rev up to address race, inclusion
Eighteen-year-old Kia Hanson has always enjoyed her time as a youth leader at the East Oakland Youth Development Center (EOYDC). She’s worked mostly with five- and six-year-olds since she began in 2016. Recently, she tapped into new skills, especially if the kids were having a meltdown. Kia Hanson “If they’re off, we ask them, ‘What’s wrong?’ ‘Do you want to talk about anything?’,” she explains. “Basically asking before assuming they’re mad at the world for no reason.” What made the...
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Trauma Informed Public Health Nursing Visits to Parents and Children (publication pending in Public Health Nursing)
Sonoma County Field Nursing's Liz George and Julianne Ballard have been busy! Together they lead an effort to develop a PHN home visiting model that integrates ACEs science! Their research will soon be published in The Journal of Public Health Nursing ! Here is the abstract: Trauma Informed Public Health Nursing Visits to Parents and Children (publication pending in Public Health Nursing) Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) research has demonstrated a strong correlation between a traumatic...
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Update: California Community Reinvestment Grant solicitation extended to 4-22-19
The Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) announced the release of the California Community Reinvestment Grants (CalCRG) program Draft Grant Solicitation for public review and comment on February 15, 2019. Included in the draft was a timeline with the release of the FDear California Community Reinvestment Grants Program Interested Parties: The Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) announced the release of the California Community...
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Department of Community Services and Development Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for the 2019
Notice of Funding Availability - 2019 CalEITC Education and Outreach Grant The purpose of this NOFA is to support CalEITC education and outreach activities and to increase awareness of the credit and free tax preparation assistance programs among low-income individuals and families. CSD seeks to engage established organizations that maintain an existing community presence and trusted relationships, demonstrate extensive experience conducting similar outreach campaigns, and regularly engage...
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Directory of Regional Coalitions or Advisory Bodies
The California Essentials for Childhood (EfC) Initiative is collecting information to assist in connecting organizations and community members to local and/or regional coalitions or advisory bodies working on efforts that improve the lives of children and families in California. The purpose of this effort is to assist with creating a directory that will be publicly available to increase engagement in policy, systems, and environmental change efforts that prevent and reduce child...
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Do you live in Arizona, Hawaii, California, Nevada or the US Pacific Islands? Come to our no-cost mental and school mental health Winter Institute!
Do you live in Arizona, Hawaii, California, Nevada or the US Pacific Islands?If so...Check it out! 👇 NO COST. MENTAL HEALTH & SCHOOL MENTAL HEALTH WORKFORCE. AMAZING FACULTY. JANUARY 14, 15, & 16th! LONG BEACH, CA. JOIN US. 🤝 👏 Learn more here: http://bit.ly/mhttc-winterinstitute-flyer Register here: http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07egq2f9gaebafa6bd&llr=8wdk4ubab
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Documentary, "Portraits of Professional CAREgivers" Airing on Public Television
CAREgivers film will be airing on most public television stations around the US beginning this month in Philadelphia, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Orlando, Cleveland, Spokane, Boise, Springfield-Holyoke, Youngstown, Idaho Falls, Twin Falls, Fairbanks, ETC. Please check your local public TV stations for future dates and times. Broadcast times will also be posted in advance whenever possible at: http://caregiversfilm.com/screenings/see-the-film/ This documentary addresses secondary trauma (aka...
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Dozens of stakeholders representing thousands of practitioners send public comments on Calif. ACEs-screening plan
Update: We posted this story on Tuesday evening and received a response from the Department of Health Care Services Wednesday that clarifies additional information. DHCS information Officer Katharine Weir said that subject to budget approval by the legislature and the governor: The reimbursement rate will be $29. Federally Qualified Health Centers will also be reimbursed for screening pediatric patients for trauma through Prop 56 funds and federal matching funds. In response to a question...
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Early Discount 20th Annual Families & Fathers Conference
Call to action- Fathers and Families Coalition of America is nearing the 20th Annual Families and Fathers Conference, March 4-7, 2019 in Los Angeles, California with a comprehensive program that hosts presenters from the United Kingdom, Scotland, Ireland, Australia, Nigeria, Puerto Rico, Bolivia and throughout the United States. We are providing the conference information for your consideration to participate. We are asking you to share this conference information with your community...
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Family First Scholarships for 21st Annual Families and Fathers Conference
21st Annual Families and Fathers National Conference February 24-27, 2020 Hilton Los Angeles Airport 5711 West Century Boulevard Los Angeles, California 90045 I am honored to announce The Family First Scholarship supported by the Annie E. Casey Foundation as a Title Sponsor and State of California First 5 as a Co-Sponsor for the 21 st Annual Families and Fathers Conference, Next Level 2020! the terms "putting family first" and "it takes a village to raise a child" parallels with why we have...
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GO-Biz Call for Prop 64 Grant Applications Is Now Open!
I am excited to relay that the Prop 64 Grant Solicitation for the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development’s (GO-Biz) California Community Reinvestment Grants program (CalCRG) is now available! More information, such as the Grant Solicitation’s online application portal, application user guide and frequently asked questions, can be found on the CalCRG website, www.business.ca.gov/CalCRG . Click on the ‘Apply Now’ button located on the CalCRG website to access the online...
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journal article: Responding to Students with PTSD in Schools
Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am . 2012 January Responding to Students with PTSD in Schools Sheryl Kataoka, MD, MSHS, Audra Langley, PhD, Marleen Wong, PhD, Shilpa Baweja, MA, and Bradley Stein, MD, PhD The prevalence of trauma exposure among youth is a major public health concern, with a third of adolescents nationally reporting that they have been in a physical fight in the past twelve months and 9% having been threatened or injured with a weapon on school property. Studies have...
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Learning Community Recording Available: Building Family, Agency, and Community Resilience: Rural Policies to Improve Housing Affordability and Accessibility
The third Sierra Learning Community for the 2019-20 fiscal year focused upon Building Family, Agency, and Community Resilience: Rural Policies to Improve Housing Affordability and Accessibility. The power point and other materials distributed to attendees are attached to this post. View the recording by clicking here: 2.13.20 Sierra Learning Community ANNOUNCEMENTS Make sure to visit the Strategies2.0 YouTube Channel to access recordings of all the Strategies2.0 sponsored webinars and...
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Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Questioning, and/or Gender Nonconforming and Transgender Girls and Boys in the California Juvenile Justice System: A Practice Guide [nclrights.org]
If you are a child welfare professional working with youth in California, chances are this practice guide may be a useful resource! Developed by Impact Justice and the National Center for Lesbian Rights, and published in January 2017, this practice guide is designed to provide probation department practice guidelines, and policy recommendations for working with lesbian, gay, bisexual, questioning, and/or gender nonconforming and transgender girls and boys who interface with the California...